Kimkim Trip Reviews

Every aspect of our trip was spectacular. Laura and the kimkim team did an amazing job both on the ground and before our trip to make it simply unforgettable. All of our guides were wonderful including our drivers. I would definitely recommend and use kimkim again for future holidays.

We made a fairly last minute decision to take our family of 4 to Costa Rica in July. Without enough time to research an itinerary, we are so glad we found kimkim online. Working with our trip planner, Adriana, was effortless and she planned a fantastic vacation for us!

Some comments on the service first. Adriana was extremely responsive. Using kimkim's messaging service, I received texts when she sent updates which allowed us to plan the trip very efficiently. We caught up by phone as well when a couple of quick decisions needed to be made and I was really impressed with her knowledge of the local hotels, restaurants and activities. While we were in Costa Rica, we reached out a couple of times just to let her know how great the trip was and, again, she responded immediately, making us comfortable that we could reach her if we had a problem.

We made a couple of decisions on activities, but for the most part Adriana planned our itinerary and her choices were excellent. We did at least 3 guided tours at popular local attractions which offer multiple guide options. Her resource choices were awesome - extremely knowledgeable and with great language skills (we are English-speaking with some Spanish skills). Her hotel choices also were excellent. We stayed in four places and it was clear at each stop that she knew the venues well and had taken our interests into consideration (pools, views, rooms together).

After speaking with Adriana, we decided not to rent a car. Given the number of times we moved, it made the transportation logistics important. Every transfer she set up showed up on time, the drivers and boat operator were efficient and professional and we were so happy in the end with our decision as the driving would not have been impossible, but challenging.

FInally, a few words about Costa Rica if you are considering it as a destination. We loved this country! The people are very friendly and the variety of activities, terrains and even weather is incredible. We were there during rainy season but even so really enjoyed the trip (if you go at the same time, bring a quality rain jacket and a quick dry shoe option). Highlights for us were the Selvatura Park in Monteverde and our tour of the Manuel Antonio National Park. If you stay in Manuel Antonio, consider La Mariposa - it's beautiful and the service is fantastic.

We definitely will use kimkim again - thanks again to Adriana and the team for giving us such a special experience!

We really wished we would’ve gotten to see what we thought we were going to see. On our itinerary, it showed pictures of beautiful places, but that was not what we got to see. One place in particular was over an hour away from where we were, but we were led to believe that is what we would see in the town we were staying in. We also were told that one of our train rides would go through waterfalls, which it did not. All of our accommodations were great.

Our whole trip in Morocco was amazing thanks to Brahim and his team. They made our dreams a reality. Our driver Mohamed was amazing. He always made sure to always be on time and made sure we were safe. They made a good choice in hotels and some of the tour guides were very knowledgeable. Over all our whole experience was amazing and definitely recommend anyone who traveling to Morocco to have Kim Kim plan it.

Thank you for everything Linda! We had the best experience working with Linda and she arranged our trip so well. The communication throughout the planning process was very clear, punctual and helpful. Linda checked in with us prior to the trip, sending weather, maps, any last minute changes and made sure we were all set. The planning on her end was awesome!

We loved our tour with Stig, he was super informative about Oslo, Norway, Norwegian history and we had such a great time walking along the river.

Our road trip was very successful, even with our two year old! :-) Our favorite fjord town was Fjaerland. It was so quiet and peaceful and the Fjærland Fjordstove Hotel was beautiful (and the food was incredible!!) We had a beautiful hike with Karianne.

The Loen Sky lift was also a wonderful time. It was so beautiful up at the top and we enjoyed hiking and having lunch in the gorgeous restaurant, the view is insane!

The drive along Gaularfjellet Scenic Road should not be missed! It was truly an epic drive. The fjords are other worldly, magical and we felt so lucky to be able to experience this adventure.

We enjoyed Bergen very much as well. Hotel Norge is a beautiful hotel! Our guide in Bergen was Snorre. He was a lot of fun, very informative and chill, which was much appreciated at the end of our 9 day trip.

We very much enjoyed the time with all of our guides.

All of the logistics worked out very well, the car rental, the ferries, the hotels...everything was very seamless and the many transitions easy.

Thank you again for everything! Thank you Linda, thank you Ethical Travel and KimKim.

This trip was the highlight of my time in Europe! I told them I wanted to hike and they planned a trip that was challenging in exactly the way I wanted it to be. They partnered with an excellent tour group located in Lake Bled who were extremely helpful upon my arrival.

Hiking to the top of Mt Triglav and staying in huts along the way was a beautiful way to experience Slovenia. I highly recommend it!

We had a fantastic trip to Croatia. I wish we were there right now. Thank you Robi for planning all the places we wanted to go and adding more places that we didn’t even know we wanted to visit. We enjoyed everywhere we went. Robi helped us quickly plan two days of boating. We loved boating around Hvar and around Dubrovnik! The captains knew really neat places to swim, snorkel, and eat. Robi also found us and delivered all the tickets we needed. I don’t know if we had a favorite place, but the two national parks were amazing. The food was great everywhere we went. Thank you Goran for the tour of Peljesac!
Nicole G.

While our trip to Corsica was fantastic and the 4-day walk we did amazing - the whole experience was let down by the poor communication of logistics once we were on the ground.

1. Most egregious was the omission of details about where we would be staying each night along the 4 day hike!!! We didn't even know the names of the accommodation (much less contact details) and had to ask the initial luggage porter where he was dropping our bags the first night. For the following nights we had to ask our accommodation hosts each morning to phone around the next night's town to find out who was expecting us! Luckily one of our party spoke fluent french, or otherwise this could have been a complete disaster...

(On a bright note all of the accommodation was very good and clean. And the hosts were superb - helpful, friendly, welcoming).

2. The route and topographic maps supplied were very poor quality photocopies. They made navigating very difficult. I strongly suggest either including proper trekking maps in the price of the trip or charge a small surplus to do so!

3. The route description booklet could/should be improved with additional photographs & details - especially for key landmarks and tricky intersections. Also I'm not convinced the distance estimates were accurate... Our own GPS devices reported that each day was longer than stated. For example the first day was supposed to be 11-12km but was in fact +15km.

While none of these issues ended up ruining the trip, they certainly made it more challenging for no good reason. Fortunately the beautiful countryside, delicious food and wine, and wonderful people we met along the way are what we will remember from our time walking across Corsica!

When the weather is great and everything goes smoothly it’s easy to say the trip was great. The true test of a company is when there are problems and in this case Aspiring has really shown top marks. My 9 year old daughter became severely ill and Aldo, Mayli and Katie immediately reacted with not just practical assistance but the emotional support we required to care for our baby. They provided a doctor at our hotel at a critical point and provided excellent assistance to find treatment and navigate the Peruvian health care system and travel insurance process. The fact that despite all the issues we have faced in the last 48 hours we cannot speak highly enough of the guides and company should speak volumes. We have been treated like family and as a frequent world traveler this company gets it and knows how and when to support both the newby world traveler and the salty veteran. If you are on the fence with a provider look no farther, these are the folks to trust. I should mention before the illness we had a wonderful trip and are so disappointed we could not take the next stage to the Amazon. Aspiring has earned a life long advocate.

My trip was amazing and your entire staff was right on point and made my wife and i feel like we were part of your family. First rate see you guys soon

Thanks again

Our trip was AMAZING!!! UNFORGETTABLE! We told our Kimkim rep what we wanted to do and see and they took care of the rest....no issues whatsoever!!! Everything was soooooo well coordinated!! Thanks KIM KIM!!

The trip was amazing. Isabel did a wonderful job of planning the trip and Christian, our tour guide was unbelievable. He took us everywhere on the itinerary and even included extra stops along the way that he thought would interest us. He was very knowledgeable and we had a fantastic time on the trip. We would definitely recommend that anyone traveling to the Quito area use KimKim and request Christian as your tour guide!

We had a fantastic time in Albania! The sights and beaches were terrific. Kakome bay was spectacular, Gjirokaster was extremely interesting and notably, getting an opportunity to drink Turkish coffee and Raki with the proprietor from the Zekate house was a real highlight for us.

A special mention for our guide Franko. He exceeded expectations. He provided expert knowledge of all of the places we visited and structured each day to meet our needs: sights, coffee stops, and dining. He was also a wealth of knowledge about Albania, its interesting history, and answered all of our questions! He is also a funny guy and very easy to be around which was perfect for our adventure in Albania.

Also to note, Xheni was very accommodating when planning our adventure and did a great job including everything we were looking to experience!

On our last day in Albania, we were thinking about when we would be able to come back and see other parts of the country - with Franko, of course!

Thank you for all of your help with organizing a memorable and special holiday for us!

Take care,

David and Jim

Preeti listened to our desires for our Iceland trip and developed an itinerary that was perfect. We skipped a few things to cut down on the driving time and increased our outdoor time.

First of all, my apologies for this delayed response. Nothing to do with our pleasure about the Greece trip. It was delightful in all respects. I am delayed in communicating because there were just a great many chores to complete on our return to Connecticut and Rhode Island.
I have just completed annotating the photos from Greece and so many great memories surfaced. I feel really fortunate to have chosen your team for this planning. Without exception the accommodations could not have been better. Each was different and each had a charm all its own. Beginning with the Acropolis view from our room in Athens to the center of town situation and fine staff in Nafplion to the gracious and helpful staff (and amazing breakfast choices) and beautiful location in Naxos and ending with our superb cave house on Santorini. Fantastic, all of them.
The individual guides in each location were great, perfect English speakers, interesting personalities, extremely knowledgeable about local culture and history - I could go on and on. Our driver/guide/historian on the drive from Athens to Delphi was truly memorable. I would like to give each one a special commendation! And as to the actual planning of the trip, PERFECT. My granddaughter, Piper, is a very engaging and active 12 year old and loved all the water activities - swimming at the olive grove on the way to Delphi, sea kayaking while in Nafplion, SCUBA in Naxos (this is what Piper really loved), catamaran in Santorini! I loved all the ancient history and those tour people were terrific. Can't say enough positive about the whole experience. Thank you.
Rogene Gillmor and Piper Cameron

We recently returned from a wonderful holiday with the kimkim team exploring by road from Dubrovnik to Tirana, traveling through Montenegro, Kosovo, and Albania.

Our time with Ed and Ardi was very special. We came on board late in the piece after Ed and our traveling companion Lynette had created a well thought out itinerary having John and myself feeling like privileged children free of all responsibility. Together they chose excellent hotels and the way Ed and Ardi pampered us with special stopovers, luggage handling, smooth check-ins, finding the right roads and car parks, getting us "there" on time had us feeling absolutely secure and safe. How could we ever have managed such a relaxing holiday without such tailored service? At no time did we worry about anything at all even though we were in countries that we knew little about and with language barriers. With Ardi's charm and language skills, we were free of worries at border crossings or barriers between ourselves and the lovely people we encountered.
If we were to try to describe the stunning landscapes of Montenegro and Albania we would run dry of superlatives. The topography of these countries is simply breathtaking. The thrill of discovering real medieval history in towns like Dubrovnik, Cetinje, Kotor, Gjakova, and Prizren was an exceptional experience. The tragic political history of the Balkans although so recently experienced feels by now to be part of history, what we did appreciate was to have local guides arranged for us who were able to deliver information on important matters, bringing a gravity to our experience of a real lived environment that appears on the surface to be a postcard photographer's dream but has by contrast layers of history both recent and ancient that should never be forgotten. In Tirana, they managed to find us delicious food experiences and despite drama on the streets, we felt very happy and privileged to be there among such charming people. Altogether we could not have asked for a more relaxing travel experience while enjoying all the benefits and stimulation of countries more commonly known as intrepid travel destinations.

Excellent. Thanks.

Overall we had a good trip. The private guides were all amazing! At times things felt a bit disjointed but our trip coordinator Ieva made herself available via WhatsApp so we could coordinate.

Terrofic all around. Christos helped put a great itinerary together: It was dense and ambitious but never hurried. Precisely what we like.

The welcome dinner with great Akropolis views, great guides for mytholoy tour and kayaking...a truly outstanding experience.

Was our second Kimkim experience, after Nepal: Another winner.

Randall was fantastic from start to finish, his local knowledge and suggestions for tours and activities resulted in a fun filled 6 day itinerary as part of our family holiday to Costa Rica. The hotels, transfers and tours all went smoothly and communication throughout the booking process was clear and very easy.
Thank you Randall! We had a fantastic time and would recommend your services and KimKim to anyone looking to book a holiday to beautiful Costa Rica. Pura Vida!